Rebel leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were expelled from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday. Party supremo Sharad Pawar ordered their expulsion over anti-party activities.
Earlier in the day, NCP’s working president and senior leader Supriya Sule had sought the disqualification of Patel and Tatkare as party members.
In a letter addressed to party supremo Sharad Pawar, Sule named Patel and Sunil Tatkare stating the two had acted against the party rules.
“Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel on July 2, 2023, acted in direct contravention of the party constitution and rules, amounting to desertion and disqualification from the party membership. I write with great urgency to inform you that two MPs of NCP, namely Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, have acted in violation of our Constitution, party rules and indulged in anti-party activities by facilitating and spearheading the oath ceremony of 9 MLAs,” her letter stated.
Echoing her, the NCP’s discipline committee also called for the disqualification of the nine MLAs who backed Ajit Pawar.
“These actions of the 9 MLAS call for immediate disqualification… if allowed to continue as members, there is a very real likelihood that they will continue to try and undermine the interests of the party,” the NCP’s discipline committee said in a statement.
3 expelled for attending Pawar’s oath ceremony
Three NCP party leaders, who had attended the oath-taking ceremony of the newly appointed Maharashtra deputy chief minister and former NCP leader Ajit Pawar, have been expelled.
The expelled leaders are the working president of the party’s Mumbai division Narendra Rane, the district president of Akola City Vijay Deshmukh and NCP’s regional general secretary Shivaji Rao Garje.
According to NCP’s statement, the expelled members acted against the party’s discipline and policy.
All three had attended Ajit Pawar’s oath ceremony that took place on the previous day.
Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister after he and nine other NCP leaders, including Praful Patel, Dilip Walse Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal split from the party to join the Eknath Shinde government, causing another major quake in Maharashtra politics.
The latest reports suggest that Rakhi Jadhav has been appointed as the Mumbai divisional working president of NCP, thus replacing Rane.
